A moment of calm and cuddles

Posted on January 20, 2014 by A Dreamer

IMG_1034

 

Approximately 30 seconds later they were biting each others feet followed by a full-on wrestling match.

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That awkward moment…

Posted on January 20, 2014 by A Dreamer

Lily on a cushionWhen your realize your hair color now matches your cat.

Trust me, hardly intentional.  Friday I went and saw my hair sorceress for a ~4 month overdue haircut, color (I think the exact words I used were, “obliterate the grey”) and some highlights.  My natural hair color is “just brown” – it is what it is, but through the beauty of chemistry, my stylist takes it to a lovely, not terribly drastic, but “sure as fuck not ‘just brown'” anymore.  It’s a nice reddish-brown and she throws some freakishly subtle golden highlights on it and I suddenly feel a good 10 years younger.  I love it.  (For the longest time, the grey in my hair didn’t really bother me.  Then it became “normal” for my age.  And fuck that noise.)  While my hair isn’t the exact shade of Lily’s red/brown/gold patches – it’s close enough that when it hit me, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry.  I chose laughing, because crying gives me a headache and a runny nose.

Carmen on a boxNow, because I am feeling like I can’t talk about one cat without talking about the other (do see the official title of the blog if you’re confused) – the awesome haircut also came with ramifications for the Prozac Princess, aka, Carmen.  The hazard of a new haircut (at least for women, I can’t speak for men) is that the first washing-of-the-hair after the appointment can be fraught with difficulties.  You don’t use the same products, you can’t use a roller brush without a pair of scissors to cut it out, air drying frizz – all sorts of things can go sideways.  Well, the sideways was happening, so I grabbed the hairdryer to try to smooth things out.  For the most part it worked.  (One friend did say, “it has more volume now” – it’s very nice that he mistakes frizz for volume.)  But in using the hairdryer, poor little Carmen was Not At All Happy.  I knew this from an incident when she was a kitten – she ran in the bathroom while I was using the hairdryer and got scared and I idiotically tried to remove her from the bathroom.  I needed several band-aids after that “rescue” mission.

So, I made sure that she was out of the bathroom while I dried my hair.  When I opened the bathroom door, I made a rather large production of putting the hair dryer into the cabinet.  Then I gave her a bunch of crunchy treats.  (With Carmen, we have a conditioning routine of, “Upset?  Let’s go eat those emotions!”)  I checked on her a few minutes later and she was sitting at the threshold of the bathroom with a look on her face of, “Where.  The Fuck.  Is That Demon from Hell?”

So, next time I see the hair sorceress, I am going to have to ask what hair product I need to buy that will give me a blow-dried finish without actually using the blow dryer.  Because I have a looney cat.

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Last lazy Sunday for a while…

Posted on January 19, 2014 by A Dreamer

CoffeeClasses start back up on Tuesday and I’ve got a Monday session this semester to boot, so this is the last Sunday until mid-May where I won’t be finishing up something for a Monday class.  (The plan is to have things done before Sunday, but I’m also realistic.  I tried to avoid a Monday class, but it was Monday at the main campus or Thursday in Arlington, and boy howdy, that sucked last semester.)

I’m also a wee bit disgruntled that my day isn’t going to be as lazy as I’d like it to be.  Gotta hit the market, clean the kitchen, find the book I have to read for Wednesday’s class, put the schedule for Monday’s class into LiquidPlanner, sort out the rest of the books for the semester, and try to figure out where the best workspace in the house is going to be this semester.

It’s not all bad though – I’m definitely looking forward to my classes this semester – US Urban History and Museum Studies.  Having anchor days again is always good.  (The days do tend to run together during breaks.)  Classes starting means spring is coming, and spring means baseball.  A little more structure doesn’t hurt.  (But not too much!)  All my classes are at the main campus, which means I don’t have to leave at 4:30 for a 7:20 class.  And the uni food court is actually pretty good – excellent chicken salad subs, and the Red Hot & Blue outlet on campus makes me very happy.

So, here’s to a new semester.

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Fixed it.

Posted on January 16, 2014 by A Dreamer

One of my wonderful readers pointed out that there is apparently no way to contact me from here.  (I really thought it was on here somewhere.  Obviously, I was wrong.)

It’s fixed and if for some reason you would like to email me, there is a link at the top of the right hand sidebar now.

Thanks to Peter for pointing it out!

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“I don’t know what people do without pets”

Posted on January 16, 2014 by A Dreamer

That was one of the few things my grandmother and I agreed upon over the years.  She had gone for a long while without pets, and I recall coming over to the house for Friday pizza night and my parents announced that my grandmother had adopted a kitten.  Pepper was a lovely companion for my grandmother for many years, and it pained her greatly when Miss P had to go on to her great reward.  Knowing the importance of pets – not just pets – animal companions – my mother scheduled a trip out to Arizona for the specific purpose of helping my grandmother find another kitty cat.  As it turned out, my grandmother found Miss Kitty the week before my Mom went out there.  (Sometimes I think Miss Kitty and Carmen share some very specific “I should be the only one here, so fuck you” DNA.)

I wasn't chasing the cats, why do you ask?

I wasn’t chasing the cats, why do you ask?

My pets bring me so much joy and happiness and serenity.  Most of the time.  And then there are nights like this evening where they are all just batshit crazy.  Don’t get me wrong – I would genuinely be lost if I didn’t have my two feline velociraptors and my canine triceratops.  (Even as I type this, Carmen is tapping my leg for the go-ahead to jump on my lap for a cuddle.  Then she changed her mind, jumped up on the cat shelf and headed for the fireplace mantel.  I helped her get back down.)

But occasionally, I can come up with a list of things that people do without pets…

– Cook spaghetti sauce without a dog twirling between their legs waiting for something to fall.  (Or a culinary minded feline.)
– Never have to tell a dog that the cat shelf isn’t actually eating the cat.
– Never have to put one cat on Prozac because she is so insanely protective of her sister cat that she will shred your foot when she thinks sister cat is in danger.  (Especially when said sister cat is in no danger and is just clumsy as all get out.)
– Read a book without a cat landing on it.
– Take a nap without a cat suddenly landing on your bladder.
– Not having to check your clothes for cat hair if you’re going out of the house for an important appointment.

Yes, my pets have tested my patience in the past 24 hours.  Barking, running, taunting, jumping, and stampeding have all been a part of the day.  But the day has also included cuddling, using-me-as-a-yoga-stand (Mox), snuggling, and purring.  And lots of my talking to them as though they could understand me, and their making all kinds of noises as though I could understand them.  And those bits are worth so very much.

My grandmother was right.  I really don’t know what I would do without them.

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It’s like some people don’t even know how birthday parties work

Posted on January 15, 2014 by A Dreamer

Birthday CandlesIt would seem that Mrs. Obama’s birthday party won’t be serving dinner.  OH THE HORROR!  And my god, the invites actually said, “Eat before you come”…

When you’re a kid, birthday parties consist of two things: cake and party favors. When you’re an adult, it is the same, except the party favors tend to be alcoholic.  You tell people that there will be no dinner.  You especially tell parents of small children that they should eat ahead of time, because it’s going to be cake and party favors.

Advising guests that it is “snacks” and not dinner, and even flat out saying, “eat first, cause we’re not having a damn state dinner here” –  isn’t tacky – it’s fucking courteous as hell. We’ve all been to some social event where there was less food than anticipated. It’s not fun. You’re trying to be pleasant and sociable, but you’re hungry and cranky because you didn’t eat something ahead of time, because no one took the time to make it clear that you should eat ahead of time.  You don’t feel comfortable destroying the cheese plate in the corner and you end up standing around and counting down the minutes until you can leave and hit the nearest Taco Bell drive-thru.

And let’s face it, Mrs. Obama will probably have a few more “snacks” than Rotel’s Famous Queso dip and homemade Chex Mix.  (Though she should definitely have both of those, because they’re delicious.)  But I see absolutely nothing wrong with the First Lady telling her social secretary, “Look, I don’t care if you have to put “eat before you come” on the invitations, make it clear as fucking day that we’re not having dinner, cause I am in no mood to listen to people whine afterwards over the fact that there wasn’t dinner.”  (Because you know there would be someone that would bitch about it.)

Clarity FTW.

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Ugh, this weather.

Posted on January 14, 2014 by A Dreamer

Very grey dayHonestly, I don’t know how people who live any farther north manage to actually function during winter.

This was the scene outside most of the day.  Grey, nasty, icky, wet and generally disgusting.  This type of weather is not conducive to doing anything but eating or sleeping.  Maybe reading if you can stay awake long enough once you’ve gotten into a comfortable position on the couch.  It’s just…blech.

Aruba’s motto is “One Happy Island” and I think at least one tiny bit of it can be attributed to the fact that in the middle of January, it’s in the 80s and they get 2 more hours of sun than we’re getting up here.  It’s gotta help just a little bit.

I keep reminding myself that the days are in fact getting longer and daylight savings time will get here in a mere 54 days.  In the meantime, I have every swinging light on in the house, electric bill be damned.  It’s not easy being solar powered in the winter.

 

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Macro Monday – Moxley

Posted on January 13, 2014 by A Dreamer

Macro Monday - Moxley

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But I can’t read!

Posted on January 12, 2014 by A Dreamer

Butterfinger BitesSo, I got these in my Christmas stocking this year.  They’re quite yummy and good when you just want a little bit of chocolate and not an entire candy bar.

 

 

 

 

 

TemptationsHowever, they also are the same color and shape as these.

 

 

 

 

 

This is not a problem for me, because I can read.  Lily, while a wonderful cat, cannot read.

Which leads to this.  But it looks like my treats

 

 

 

 

 

 

No really, it looks like my treats.And this.

 

 

 

 

 

LilyDon’t hate me because I’m beautiful.  Hate me because I will walk around the counters and knock things off when I think it is dinner time.

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Sound the Alarm!!!

Posted on January 8, 2014 by A Dreamer

It would seem that there is a Velveeta shortage!!

Now, before we go any further, please keep any Velveeta hate to yourself.  I understand it is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.  But I also think you can love a wonderful smoked gouda and still appreciate the place that Velveeta has in our society.

Now, I’ll admit, my first thought was, “How the hell do you end up with a Velveeta shortage?”  But demand and manufacturing don’t always sync up perfectly, and if Kraft is using just-in-time supply chains, those could have easily gotten screwed up with the winter weather.  So, that’s how you run out of Velveeta.

One friend said she thought it was a marketing stunt, but that didn’t make any sense to me.  (Though it did work in that it got me thinking about cheese dip.)  In this day and age of leaked documents and disgruntled employees, a faked shortage would be outed in no time at all.  And the article says they haven’t gotten any reports of customers coming up empty on their Velveeta shopping escapades, so it’s a shortage that hasn’t hit the shelves yet.  So, why bother even mentioning it?

I have two options:  The positive person in me thinks that Kraft is just trying to give their customers a heads-up that they may need a Velveeta contingency plan.  The cynic in me thinks, yeah, that short-term sales spike will be nice as everyone cries, “Damn, get the Velveeta now, cause if we wait until Super Bowl weekend, it will be gone!”  Either way – we’ve got a impending Velveeta shortage, people!

Now, if you’re still thinking, “What the hell do people do with Velveeta anyway?” – I give you two very tasty options.

Ramekin of Cheese Dip

Cheesy Awesomeness.

The first is cheesy salsa dip.  Take your Velveeta, cut it up into small pieces, throw in some salsa, microwave it until it’s all melty and eat it with sour cream and chips.  (I did not steal the picture, it’s from an old blog of mine.)  The second is what my brother and his college roommates refer to as “Super Happy Fun Dip” which is a brick of Velveeta and a can of Hormel chili all mixed up and melted.  It’s damn good, too.

So, RUN, don’t walk to your nearest market and GET THE VELVEETA BEFORE IT’S ALL GONE.  No, wait, scratch that.  Go to the store after I go get my Velveeta, because damned if I don’t really want some cheese dip.

Well played, Kraft.  Well played.

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